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| Akwasi Kyereme tailored the costumes the late King of Afro-Beat, Fela Kuti wore for his shows. In an interview with AFRITOPIC, the tailor turned musician, talks about his experience as a member of Fela’s group and his work as a musician. |
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Afritopic: Why did you decide to go and live in Nigeria in the 70s? Akwasi: I am from Ghana. I went
to Nigeria in 1973, at the time Nigerian economy was booming. I had a
good time in Nigeria working for the originator of Afro-Beat, the late
Fela Kuti. As a tailor, I designed and sewed most of the costumes Fela
wore on stage. He was arguably a mega star in Nigeria and being a member
of his entourage, I could enjoy some of the goodies Nigeria offered. The
team work in the Group was very good and the atmosphere was very
friendly. Like many members of his group, I was living in a room at
Fela’s house in Lagos. It was a privilege for me to work for Fela Afritopic: In your opinion, why did the military regime target Fela as an enemy of
the government? |
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| Akwasi Kyereme |
| Fela and his group knew that he was being targeted by the military and his life was in danger. But he did not stop his criticism of the government. The album “Black President” was released and became immediate success. The people got the message. They were mobilized to criticize the inefficiency of the dictatorship and fight for their rights. |
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Afritopic: What led to the escalation of the situation and the attack on Fela by
the “unknown” soldiers? |
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Afritopic: You were working for Fela as a tailor. When did you start developing
interest in becoming a musician? Akwasi: My interest in music
grew stronger in Nigeria. I tried but did not have the chance to sing for
a band. So I decided to travel to Berlin, Germany. I had an entry visa for
Germany but it was very difficult to obtain a stay and work permit. In
1984, while struggling to make ends meet, I met a German woman; we fell in
love and got married. Soon after our marriage I became father of a
daughter. It was clear to me that I had to find a way to a career in the
music business. Luckily, I met a friend from Ghana who introduced me to
other African musicians in Berlin. We discussed about the African music
scene in Germany and my wish to become a music artist. I had a chance to
demonstrate my singing talent. They were impressed with my voice and gave
me the opportunity to sing for the band. I started doing cover versions of
Fela’s hits. After sometime, I began to learn how to play the trumpet
and compose my own music. My favourites are Afro-Beat and Reggae. As I
gained more knowledge in song writing, playing the trumpet and production
technique, I started creating my own type of Reggae and Afro-Beat. With
the help of my friends and the sponsorship of The Senate of Berlin, I was
able to produce my first album titled “Ashanti (Twi) Reggae”.
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Afritopic: Was it difficult to find a studio to produce your music? Akwasi: The Senate of Berlin provided a studio, in which I could work with other musicians to produce music. Unfortunately, working together with some other African artists proved to be difficult due to power struggle. I believe this one of the problems making it impossible for Africans to achieve success as a community. Nevertheless, I came to agreement with a couple of African music artists and worked together with them to produce four other albums. The latest is titled “Adamu Reggae”. |
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I do not have a distributor for my albums. I used to
distribute my CDs myself to the retail stores. I drove to the stores all
over Germany and presented my music CDs. Through contacts, I sent the
CDs to the USA and one of my songs was even in the US charts. I am also
a member of Reggae Ambassador in Ghana, which I am very proud of. With
time, composing, producing and marketing my music became a very
difficult task. Moreover, I had family problems to tackle. The problems
caused me some set back in my aspired career. It has been a tough time. Afritopic: It seems that you have overcome your problems and now focused on music.
What is your next goal? Akwasi: Now, I am working
together with other musicians while looking for a company that is ready
to handle the marketing of the music we produce. We are also planning to
release a music video this year. My goal is to have my music distributed
not only in Europe and the USA but also in Nigeria as well as the whole
of Africa. |
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